


Wake Me Up

by Deadlihood



Series: Hauntings [4]
Category: EXO (Band), f(x)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Brief mention of suicide attempt, M/M, Romance, Sufanxing is the new black, i promise this is the last one i swear, like a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 13:48:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10742943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deadlihood/pseuds/Deadlihood
Summary: Sehun's final battleground is himself.





	Wake Me Up

“Min, are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” Sehun asked, leaning against the glass counter. “I mean, aren’t you going to need _more_ help now that you have Moonsik?”

“Lu is getting more help down at the coffee shop and I’m hiring someone to replace you. Plus Baekhyun is going to be helping me out here, and Junmyeon has already insisted on babysitting. We’ll be fine.” Minseok pushed his glasses up his nose. “Besides, you should do something more than this.”

“I’ll still be working in a shop.”

“Yeah, but it’ll be your own. You’ll be doing something better suited to you.”

“If Krystal doesn’t run my ass into the ground first. I swear, this is the first break she’s given me since we put our names on the lease.” Sehun rested his forehead on the cool glass. “I’m lucky she’s letting me out to go to Heechul’s wedding. She’s like my wife.”

“Welcome to owning a business, Sehun.” Minseok laughed, patting the back of his head. “Are you sure you don’t want to ride with Lu and me?”

“And the baby? For four hours? Are you fucking kidding me?” Sehun snorted. “I love Moonsik, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t last in a car with him for four hours.”

“So instead you’re going to drive with Tao. Sounds much better.” The sarcasm dripping from his words could have eaten a hole in the glass.

“Better him than anyone else.”

Minseok recognized that tired look in Sehun’s eyes. “Why don’t you get something from Lu and Jongdae and come talk to me?”

“No, I should go before Krystal loses her shit.”

“Sehun. That wasn’t really a question.”

“You sound like Suho.” Sehun grumbled, but he still went downstairs and retrieved two Earl Grey lattes and a couple almond braids from Luhan, and came back up to the antique shop. Minseok had dragged over a tall stool for Sehun to sit on as they munched on their snacks.

“So tell me what’s been going on. I feel like I don’t see you anymore.”

“I’ve mostly just been dealing with getting the shop set up with Krystal. I don’t think either of us really knew how much work it was going to be to start up a magic shop. We’ve had to go talk to some really shady people about getting certain herbs.”

“Please don’t do anything illegal.”

“They aren’t illegal, they’re just hard to find.” Sehun blew on his latte. “And then I’ve been helping Baekhyun and Chanyeol prep for their performance at Heechul’s wedding and teaching Junmyeon more about the Sight and every now and then I get to sleep.”

“How’s the new place?”

“Hard to get used to. I was so used to living with Jongin, and then with you and Luhan. Being by myself is a little weird.” Sehun left out the part where he kept having horrible nightmares.

“And how are you and Jongin?”

Sehun sighed. “Min, if I knew the answer to that I would be much better off.”

“It’s still not any better.”

“I thought I could trust him again and I’m just…I’m struggling, Minseok. I thought I missed him enough that I could go back and be his boyfriend again. And sometimes it’s okay, and sometimes we’ll be talking and I have to relive that whole night again.”

“Have you guys…?”

Sehun shook his head. “Not since we broke up. I can’t do it. Every time I even think about it, all I can think of is him with Taemin.”

“I’m so sorry, Hunnie. You didn’t deserve this.”

“I know.” Sehun smiled weakly. “Isn’t that the worst part? I hate his fucking guts and I still love him. I can’t win.” His bracelets clattered against the glass counter. “I’m having Amber make me a new set.”

“Are they not working?”

“The runes are only good for so long. I’m starting to get bleed through emotions.” Sehun took a deep breath and forced himself to sit up straight. “Can I come play with Moonsik? He always cheers me up.”

“Of course you can. You can hang out here, or downstairs if you want.”

“I should probably go home and shower. Gotta be alert for the little guy.” Sehun stood up and stretched. “And I should check in with Krystal. She and Amber are doing some kind of…magical copier machine, I guess. They’re making copies of their books so we can have a set at the store.”

“Okay. Have dinner with us.”

“Okay. Seven?”

“I’m making dumplings.”

“I’ll be there at 6:30.” Sehun hugged him and then scampered down the back steps into the coffee shop. Jongdae was sitting down, eyes closed. Sehun walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Jongdae’s eyes were bleary and bloodshot.

“Hey Hunnie.” Jongdae said, yawning.

“Are you okay?” Sehun asked worriedly.

“Yeah, just didn’t sleep well last night. What about you? I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Sorry.” Sehun did feel bad about isolating himself so much. “I’ll try to be more present. And we’re all going to Heechul’s wedding.”

“Yep. You and Tao are sharing right?”

“Yeah. That should be interesting.”

“Why aren’t you sharing with Jongin?”

“That, my friend, is a long story. I’ll tell you on the way if you ride with Tao and me.”

“I don’t know if that’s worth four hours of Tao’s driving.”

“Then I guess you’ll never know.” Sehun hugged him and Luhan before heading out to his car.

The safety of his own apartment was a comfort he’d come to crave. It was insulated from everyone’s emotions, was entirely ghost free, and was all his. He collapsed face first on his bed, letting his limbs melt into the soft duvet.

Coming over for dinner would make Luhan feel better, definitely. His older friend had been breathing down his neck about his self-imposed exile and harassing him to spend more time with the family. As much as he loved his family, Sehun was too fragile to be around all of them at once. He’d spend one on one time with them occasionally, and he had seen Kibum a few times. Jonghyun, Kibum’s new boyfriend, was a little Force Sensitive, the way Junmyeon had been before his possession. They’d had an interesting coffee date before Sehun had made an excuse and left.

He still wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to go to Heechul’s wedding. Heechul had invited all of them. Baekhyun he understood; he was a groomsman, after all. And Chanyeol obviously would have gone with him. But he didn’t know why the rest of them had been invited to the wedding when they’d only met Heechul once and hadn’t been particularly welcoming to him. Maybe it was Heechul’s way of building a bridge between Baekhyun’s past and present.

His phone buzzed underneath him; groaning, he pulled it out to look at who had texted him.

Jongin. Of course. _Are you free tonight?_

It had been three months and Sehun still felt like they were in that awkward first date phase. It was a weird place to be with someone he’d been in love with for so long, had lived with. Jongin didn’t invite himself over without asking; Sehun rarely went to the cottage. They usually met somewhere else to hang out and have dinner, or watch a movie.

Sehun knew if he told Jongin he was hanging out with Luhan and Minseok, he would invite himself along. But lying to him left a bad taste in his mouth. So he told him where he was going.

_Do you need some space, or can I come too?_

Sehun considered it. On one hand, he wanted to be completely comfortable and just relax with his friends. On the other, if he didn’t spend time with Jongin he wouldn’t ever know if he was happy with him or not. That question was probably the only reason he had stayed in their pseudo-relationship. He had kept Jongin at arms-length, not close enough to hurt him again. But doing so had made him just as unhappy.

_Minseok’s making dumplings. I was planning on being there at 6:30_. Sehun hoped that was enough of an answer without him having to flat out invite him.

Eventually he got up and showered; Krystal had made him some kind of magic infused body wash that was supposed to help lift his mood. It did the job most of the time, and it made him smell like an orange creamsicle, which he liked.

The sweater Sehun pulled on was one of Tao’s, lifted without him noticing. The sleeves were just a touch too long, but it was warm and fit his shoulders well. He found one of his umbrellas (living by the coast had made him buy several), grabbed a leather jacket, and headed off to his car.

Sehun had loved the constant rain once; now it was just a little depressing and gloomy. The very atmosphere made him feel claustrophobic. But the townhouse had always been warm, always been safe, always been welcoming. That hadn’t changed, even when it felt like everything else had.

He still had the spare key to the townhouse, so he let himself in through the back, stamping his boots on the doormat.

“Hunnie?” Luhan called, his head poking over the railing.

“Hey Lu.” Sehun dropped his wet umbrella in the bucket and came up the stairs, where Luhan crushed him into a hug.

“You’re so skinny.” He scolded, poking Sehun in the ribs.

“Just because you’re getting that dad paunch doesn’t make me too skinny.” Sehun shot back. Luhan and Minseok had both put on a little bit of weight after adopting Moonsik, but it was kind of cute on them. Their faces were just so creepily beautiful that no one really noticed that they were carrying a little weight around the middle.

“I should throw you down the stairs.”

Sehun bit back a remark about that being a blessing; Luhan didn’t seem to like fatalistic humor. Instead, he followed him into the living room, where Moonsik was on his play blanket, completely absorbed in the iPad in front of him that was showing underwater scenes.

“God, he’s gotten so big.” Sehun muttered, pulling Moonsik into his lap. The baby squirmed until he saw who was holding him. Then two chubby baby hands hit Sehun in the face, excitement making Moonsik flail. “Hi Moonie!”

Watching the two of them from his armchair, Luhan regretted letting Sehun move out. Of course, they’d needed the guest bedroom for the nursery, but maybe if they’d moved to a bigger place Sehun could have stayed with them. Luhan didn’t trust him on his own, not with how miserable he’d been for the past few months. Moonsik always seemed to make him happier. Maybe if he’d stayed in their house, Sehun would have always had a source of happiness.

“Jongin’s coming.” Sehun said nonchalantly. “Can you help me with my bracelets? I don’t want to drop him.”

“You invited Jongin?” Luhan reached over and helped him undo the clasps. Moonsik was the only one Sehun could stand to touch without the bracelets, because he was so young. He didn’t have any lurking sorrows, any regrets, any anger. All Sehun ever got from him was adoration and love.

“He asked what I was doing.” Sehun shrugged, cuddling Moonsik a little closer to him.

“It’s been three months, Sehun. Don’t you feel like it’s time to stop beating this dead horse?”

Sehun didn’t have to answer, because the doorbell rang. Sehun carefully set Moonsik back on his blanket and put his bracelets back on. Jongin came in and Sehun felt a fist squeeze his bruised heart. He was too beautiful for Sehun to stand, even after all these years.

“Hey.” Jongin leaned down, cautious as ever, and gave Sehun a soft peck on the lips. “Hi Moonie!”

If there was one thing Sehun hated, it was seeing Jongin with a baby in his arms. It reminded him of that night where they’d laid awake, listening to the waves and whispering about the future. They wanted to get married, to have kids. And now all that seemed like it had disappeared, like smoke between Sehun’s fingers.

Luhan helpfully brought him a beer, which helped numb that train of thought a little. Jongin was still on the blanket with Moonsik, whispering softly to him as they watched the iPad together. He glanced up at Sehun just as he pressed a kiss to Moonsik’s downy head. Sehun smiled; Jongin beamed.

He’d been trying so hard, Sehun had to give him that. He wanted Sehun’s forgiveness so badly that Sehun could practically taste it.

Minseok called them to dinner and sat Moonsik in his high chair to eat with them. The dinner table was comfortable, warm. Sehun had downed two more beers and shyly hooked his ankle around Jongin’s under the table. Jongin looked like he’d just won the lottery.

After dinner Luhan and Minseok went upstairs to put Moonsik down for the night, leaving Sehun and Jongin alone in the living room. Sehun was stretched out on the couch, his feet in Jongin’s lap. He had one hand wrapped around Sehun’s bare ankle.

“You’ve lost some weight.” Jongin commented, brushing his fingers over the bone.

“I’m losing baby fat.”

“I like your baby fat.” Jongin always winced when he said things like that. He never knew how Sehun was going to take it.

“As long as I don’t lose my ass, I’m sure you’ll still be happy.” For dramatic effect, Sehun rolled over onto his stomach and arched his back, sticking his ass up. “See. Still there.”

“I know.” Jongin sounded like he was being strangled. Sehun felt a little thrill of victory.

By the end of the evening it was clear that Sehun could not drive himself home. Jongin volunteered and bundled him into the car. Sehun half-dozed all the way home, lulled into a stupor by the windshield wipers and the low radio.

Jongin helped him up the stairs, slippery with the rain, and up to his front door. Sehun could always tell Jongin wanted to come in with him, especially now that his bracelets were losing their effectiveness.

“Come inside,” he heard himself say, opening the door for both of them. Jongin followed and watched as Sehun methodically took off his clothes, leaving only his boxers on. So it was going to be that kind of night. Jongin didn’t care as long as he got to be there with him.

“You still wear that.” Sehun commented when Jongin got into bed with him, his bare chest marked only by a small amber bead around his neck.

“I’m trying to not attract anymore ghosts.” Jongin snuggled himself into the covers and had to bite down on his lip when Sehun wiggled into his arms. It had been so long since Sehun had let him touch him. They kissed every now and then, but never for long. They hadn’t shared a bed in months.

“Good plan.” Sehun sounded drowsy. Jongin settled him against his chest and buried his face in the nape of his neck, inhaling the smell of his hair. If this was all Sehun was willing to give him, he would take it, happily.

They looked picture perfect from the outside, Sehun’s slender frame enclosed by Jongin’s broader one, Jongin’s bronze to Sehun’s gold, their sleeping faces relaxed and open.

And then Sehun began to thrash. Jongin woke up when Sehun hit him in the sternum. Sehun was whimpering, eyes shut tight. And then he began to scream. Jongin sat up, turned on the lamp, tried to hold him still. But he screamed and flailed like he was fighting off an attacker. Finally he opened his eyes, rolling and white with fear. Jongin’s horrified face hung above him.

“Sorry.” Sehun whispered, sitting up. “Sorry.” He escaped to the kitchen to get a glass of water on shaking legs. Jongin followed.

“Hunnie, what was that?” Jongin asked.

“Nightmare. I’m okay now. Go back to bed.”

“Dude, you sounded like you were dying.”

“I have nightmares, Jongin. It’s nothing new.”

There was a dull thud when Jongin punched the wall. “God dammit, Sehun, let me in!”

“Why? Why do you get to live in every part of my head? Leave me _something_.” Sehun finished his water and stormed back to bed.

Jongin didn’t come back for a long time, having sat on the couch to calm himself down. Sehun was facing away from him, shoulders held tense. Jongin carefully got into bed, staring at the ceiling. The weight of what he had done rested heavily in his heart, every day, every time he looked Sehun in the eye. He’d fucked up, he knew it. And he didn’t think he’d ever stop trying to make it up to Sehun, until Sehun finally threw him away.

And as the months had been going by, it seemed like they were inching towards that point. But Jongin couldn’t bring himself to leave. And Sehun couldn’t bring himself to leave, either. They were in stasis, trapped in each other’s orbit.

\--

“Is there anything over in that region I can pick up while I’m gone?” Sehun asked, checking their Google Doc of herbs they still needed to stock up on.

“Really? You’re going for a wedding and you want to work?” Krystal snorted. “Be glad I’m letting you out of my sight and enjoy yourself.”

“Honestly, the chances of me enjoying this wedding are slim to none.”

“Amber’s almost finished with the new set. She’s trying a different set of runes to see if it’ll last longer.”

“That’s not really what I meant.”

“Oh. Right.” Krystal sighed. “Hunnie, we’ve been over this a million times.”

“I know, I know.” His phone buzzed with another incoming call. “Oh, Tao’s calling me. I’ll talk to you when I get back.” They said goodbye and Sehun told Tao he was on his way down.

“You packed light.” Tao commented as Sehun opened the trunk to throw his duffel bag in.

“We’re only going to be gone a few days. What else do I need?” Sehun climbed into the passenger seat, wrapping his cold fingers around the hot coffee Tao had brought for him.

“What about your kit?”

“If there are any ghosts, it’s someone else’s fucking problem.” Sehun slurped the coffee loudly. “I brought the basics.”

“I knew you would.” Tao skidded out onto the street, heading for the highway. “You never let anyone be responsible for something you can do.”

“It’s my fatal flaw.”

“It’s not a bad one to have.”

“Compared to your vanity? I’d say it’s not bad.” Sehun just laughed when Tao swatted him, even though it did hurt. Tao was a martial arts champion, after all.

“Some of us like to look like actual grownups instead of messy teenagers.”

“Tao, you dress like a pimp. Like an actual pimp. Don’t give me fashion advice.”

They bickered back and forth for a while before Sehun dozed off and Tao turned the radio down to let him rest. They’d left early enough that there weren’t many other cars on the road, and Tao could sneak looks over at Sehun in the passenger seat.

He looked like he’d been punched in both eyes, he had such bad dark circles. Sehun had never been big, but he looked about as heavy as a sheet of paper right then. Junmyeon was going to throw a shit fit, if he hadn’t already.

Sehun woke up two hours in when Tao stopped to stretch his legs and use the restroom. Sehun stumbled through everything, sleep still clouding his brain.

“So, tell me about your lady friend.” He said when they got back in the car.

“How’d you hear about her?”

“I might not be physically around all the time, but I still hear things. So come on, tell me about Victoria.”

“What is there to say? She’s beautiful, she’s talented, and I like her a lot. I would have brought her with me if she didn’t have performances this weekend.”

“She’s a singer, right?”

“A beautiful singer. I’d love to hear her sing with Baekhyun actually.”

“Aww, Taozi, you sound like you’re in love.”

“It’s a little early for that, but she is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met.”

As happy as Sehun was for his friend, jealousy twisted his stomach and made his mouth sour. It took a moment before he could say, “I’m happy for you.”

Tao glanced over at him; it was one of his meaningful glances, where he communicated exactly what he felt through his eyes. Tao had never made a statement on Sehun and Jongin’s relationship. Everyone else had given their two cents on whether or not they should have gotten back together, but Tao had always been silent. The look he gave Sehun now told him his opinion.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Sehun stared out the window.

“I’m not judging, Sehun. We all do crazy things for love.” Tao fiddled with the radio, switching away from the commercial. “Tell me about the shop. How are you and Krystal doing on getting everything set up?”

They talked on and off for the rest of the ride to the hotel; Jongin didn’t come up again. They were the first to check in and get settled in their room. It wasn’t anything fancy, just two twin beds.

“You think Junnie could have picked a cheaper place?” Tao asked, touching the scratchy comforter with a disgusted look.

“Considering how late he made the reservations, we’re lucky we got a place to stay at all.” Sehun sat on the carpet and stretched his aching muscles. “So what do you want to do?”

“We might as well go get something to eat. If you take another nap you won’t sleep at all.”

They opened their door just in time to see Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Kyungsoo come out of the elevator.

“Hey. Where’s Jongdae?” Sehun asked.

“He said something came up and he had to stay in town.” Kyungsoo shrugged. “Means I don’t have to share my bed anymore.”

“Huh. I wonder what happened. He was talking about finding some cute bridesmaid for weeks.” Tao said. “Whatever. Do you guys want to get something to eat with us?”

They wandered down the street to a little café. Tao fussed with the careful swoops of his blond hair in the window while they waited for their waitress to come back around.

“Tao, for the love of God, give it up.” Sehun grabbed his hands. “Your hair is fine. Victoria isn’t even around.”

“I don’t want to hear shit from you.” Tao glared at him. “When you first started dating Jo-” He yelped; based on the look on his face, Kyungsoo had just kicked him.

“You don’t have to walk on eggshells around me.” Sehun put his menu on the table with a loud _slap_. “Do they have iced tea? I’m feeling some iced tea.”

Sehun had forgotten just how exhausting it could be around his whole family. When everyone arrived (Moonsik included), they all had to go out to dinner. It was suffocating being around all of them, feeling the weight of their eyes on him and Jongin.

Jongin at least was making conversation; Sehun had sunken into himself sullenly. The wedding was tomorrow and Baekhyun and Chanyeol would be performing for the couple’s first dance. They’d be leaving the morning after the wedding, assuming all of them would be drinking and unable to drive back to town. Sehun wished he hadn’t come at all, or that he’d driven himself so he could escape early. But he was here, and he’d brought his goddamn suit and everything.

Sehun carried Moonsik back to the hotel, the weight of his warm body against his chest keeping him grounded. The baby snuffled, one chubby hand reached out to Minseok, who squeezed it and made a funny face. Minseok had lost his heart completely to his son. He still couldn’t believe he and Luhan had a son.

“So when are we planning your wedding?” Sehun asked.

“I don’t know. Do we have to have a wedding?” Minseok didn’t really want to throw a huge wedding and reception. He and Luhan had gotten married in a rush to help speed up the adoption process. They had the certificate and everything, and their marriage was legal, but Junmyeon had nearly thrown a fit that he hadn’t gotten to throw at least a dinner for them.

“Moonsik’s welcome home party was our wedding.” Luhan assured him. “Our parents were there, everyone knew we were married, and we had our baby. That’s all we need.”

“You should at least get rings, then.” Junmyeon chimed in. “Even if there isn’t a ceremony, you should get rings.”

“What about you three?” Luhan gestured at Kris and Yixing just behind him. “No commitment rings?” Everyone had known early on that the three of them weren’t going to get married, at least not legally. There wasn’t a recognized way for three people to all be married to each other.

“We’ve thought about it. I’m the only one who’s actually done anything about it.” Kris held up his hands, displaying the rings on each ring finger. One was jade, engraved with a swirling pattern. The other was carnelian and smooth. Someone had joked once that they looked like Christmas colors; Kris hadn’t laughed. Like everything he did, he’d carefully considered his partners and what ring he wanted to represent each of them, and made a careful decision.

“We’ll pick them out when we’re ready, I guess.” Yixing slipped himself under one of Kris’s arms.

All too soon, they arrived at the hotel, and Sehun had to hand Moonsik back to his dads. They took him off to their room, cooing softly to him. The other couples were already making their way back to their rooms; the hallway was practically choked with awkwardness as Jongin shuffled to stand behind Kyungsoo, who was unlocking the door to their room. No one had asked Sehun if he wanted to share with Jongin. No one had had to ask. He didn’t really. Not until Tao punched Sehun in the back and gave him a threatening look.

“Jongin, why don’t you and I switch?” Tao said when it was clear Sehun wasn’t going to. Jongin looked over at Sehun, who gritted his teeth and nodded.

“If you’re sure.” Jongin’s voice was soft, and it managed to break Sehun’s heart just a little more.

“Yeah. Let’s trade.” Sehun went into his room while Jongin collected his things. He had to give this a real shot, he kept reminding himself. He couldn’t keep himself in this half-committed state. He needed to go one way or the other.

“Tao didn’t make you do this?” Jongin asked when he’d dragged his duffel bag across the hall and shut the door behind him.

“I’m not doing this against my will.” Sehun rolled onto his stomach and opened his phone to read the email Krystal had sent him. Apparently they now had a working copy of Amber and Krystal’s spell books for the shop. A postscript told him his new bracelets were ready for when he got home. He almost wanted to drive back to town to get them that night.

“I’m gonna shower.” Jongin disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Sehun in silence. He buried his face in the pillow and fought the urge to scream. The whole point of him sharing with Tao was so that he could have space away from Jongin.

But Jongin was his boyfriend, wasn’t he? Did his reluctance mean he really didn’t want to be with him? He battled back and forth with the idea until Jongin came out of the bathroom, his chest and hair still damp in just a pair of thin pajama pants. He choked a little on his own saliva and tried to disguise it as clearing his throat. He was pretty sure Jongin still got the point. But Jongin by now was used to Sehun not wanting to have sex and went about his business.

“Do you want to share the bed?” Jongin asked when he was done hanging up his suit.

“Yeah. I think I’m gonna shower first.” Sehun felt a little bad jerking off in the shower, but not bad enough to stop. He just covered his mouth with his other hand to make sure Jongin couldn’t hear him.

He apparently hadn’t done that great of a job, because Jongin was facing away from him when he came out of the bathroom. He stayed stiffly on his side of the bed, broad shoulders so tense that Sehun knew he had heard him.

Sehun got on his side and went to sleep.

\--

If nothing else, Heechul and Gunhee had good taste. Their wedding was in a botanical garden, and they’d let the natural foliage replace any other kind of decoration, with the exception of a long purple carpet up the center of the aisle. Baekhyun was over behind a fern being talked down by Chanyeol while he attached his boutonniere properly. Sehun was already sweating a little in his suit. Jongin was sitting next to him very pointedly talking to Kyungsoo. Sehun chose to look around the garden rather than talk to Tao.

Heechul was wearing a navy blue suit, while Gunhee wore a white suit. Luhan cried through most of the vows, hiding his face in Moonsik’s cap. Sehun was a little emotional as well. But no one cried harder than Baekhyun, soft-hearted Baekhyun who had loved Heechul once. Heechul had included Chanyeol in his groomsmen, which had been a good idea. Chanyeol was holding his boyfriend’s hand and keeping him steady. Sehun swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. There was so much love in the air it was starting to choke him a little.

Both grooms took off their boutonnieres and flung them into the crowd when they were finally pronounced husband and husband. A very startled Junmyeon caught one; the other went to a pretty dark-haired man on the other side of the aisle. Sehun made eye contact with him and felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. For a moment he was sure the man had to be looking at Jongin. No one ever looked at him like that, like they wanted to consume him.

The reception, held in a different garden, had an open bar. Sehun took full advantage of it, knowing that as soon as the reception got into full swing he would need it in order to stay afloat. Luhan glared at him over Moonsik’s head. Sehun toasted him with the Jack and coke and downed it.

There was an awkward meal made only marginally better by the fact that Moonsik was sitting next to him on Minseok’s lap and he got to feed him a little. After dinner, Minseok and Luhan took Moonsik to say hello to the newlyweds before excusing themselves to take the baby back to the hotel. Sehun kind of wanted to go with them, but he had a feeling Junmyeon would have his ass if he moved.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun sang beautifully for the first dance, as was to be expected. Heechul was limping a little already, but Gunhee was helping support him to make up for it. Sehun downed another drink to make it through the dance without screaming.

“Sir, are you all right?” The bartender asked.

“Not exactly.” Sehun left the bar to find Tao, who was sitting at their table, texting and sipping on a glass of wine.

“Dude, did you already drink half the bar?” Tao wrinkled his nose when he smelled Sehun’s breath.

“Just a little.” Sehun shrugged. “How else am I making it through this?”

“They really don’t work anymore, do they?” Tao gestured at the bracelets peeking out from under his suit cuff.

“Nope. Amber just finished my new set and I really need them.” Sehun shrugged. “Liquor dampens it.”

“I’ll keep an eye on you.”

Sehun wasn’t sure how it happened or why he’d thought it was a good idea, but when the dancing started in earnest, he was right in the middle of the crowd, popping and locking like his life depended on it. He’d had entirely too much to drink and none of his friends had noticed yet.

He stepped out of the crowd to catch his breath and the pretty man was standing on the edge. With mussy hair and wire rimmed glasses, he was one of the most attractive men Sehun had ever seen. His sluggish brain compared him to Jongin and found them different in every way.

“Hi.” He sounded relatively coherent, or maybe that was just his drunk talking.

“Hey. I haven’t seen you around before. You a friend of Heechul’s?” The man said.

“A friend of a friend. I’m Sehun.”

“Hyukjae.”

“Why are you standing out here, Hyukjae?”

“I don’t like to dance alone.”

“Well, there’s plenty of people dancing.” Before he thought about it too much, Sehun had grabbed him by the sleeve of his burgundy jacket and was dragging him onto the dance floor.

Hyukjae was a good dancer, Sehun decided. They flowed well together, two slender bodies working in time to the rhythm. He wondered what they looked like from the outside, but it was hard enough keeping his head on when Hyukjae was holding his waist with one hand. Each finger burned the pattern of his lust into Sehun’s skin, made worse by the slow, deliberate movements of Hyukjae’s body against his.

Sehun’s eyes were half-open, which meant he saw Jongin coming. He looked murderous, but calmed his face just as he came up to them.

“There you are Hunnie, I’ve been looking for you.” He said in a voice that sounded pleasant, but there was a knife’s edge of anger under it. He collected Sehun from Hyukjae, pulling him tight against his body. “Sorry, we’re having a family emergency.” He dragged Sehun off the dance floor and behind a tree. “What the _fuck_ are you doing?”

“Don’t get on your fucking high horse, Jongin.” Sehun leaned against the tree for support. “I was dancing with him. Big fucking deal.”

“It’s a big deal to me. I’m supposed to be your boyfriend, remember?”

“Like you were my boyfriend when you fucked Taemin?” Sehun rolled his eyes. “I’m done with this conversation.” He moved to leave and Jongin grabbed him by the shoulder, holding him in place.

“No, you’re not going back over there. You’re drunk as fuck and your bracelets aren’t working. I’m taking you home.”

Unfortunately Jongin had Kris and Junmyeon on his side, which meant Sehun was bundled into a taxi with Jongin and sent back to the hotel. As soon as they were back in their room, Sehun locked himself in the bathroom. He drank glass after glass of water, getting progressively angrier as he did. Dancing with Hyukjae was the least of the sins both of them had committed. It wasn’t like he’d been down on his knees sucking him off or something. They’d been dancing.

And then Sehun thought about Taemin and he got even angrier. He threw the plastic cup away in the trashcan and slammed out of the bathroom. Jongin, sitting on the edge of the bed, looked up from his phone, an equally angry expression on his face.

Sehun had never raised a hand to Jongin, with the exception of the night he caught him with Taemin. Today was the second time, when he slapped him across the face. Jongin let out a gasp of shock, his cheek reddening from the force of the hit.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Sehun hissed. “You aren’t my owner.”

“I’m supposed to be your fucking boyfriend, you asshole. You’re the one who came back, not me.”

“You _begged_ me to come back. Or do you not remember crying and begging for my forgiveness?” Sehun yanked Jongin’s head back by his hair, watching as his full lips curved into a snarl.

“You chose to come back. You’ve been stringing me along for three fucking months, Sehun. You won’t even let me touch you and you let the first guy who came sniffing around grind up on you.”

“And what about Taemin?”

“I made a mistake!” He tried to loosen Sehun’s grip on his head and only succeeded in pulling on his hair harder. “I’ve been trying to apologize to you for ages and it’s never enough! When are you going to stop punishing me? Just fucking break up with me!”

“You deserve to be punished.” It felt like a dam had been broken inside Sehun, his rage flowing free. “I deserve to punish you, to make you feel even a little bit of how much that hurt.”

“I know how much it hurt-”

“No, you don’t!” Sehun shoved him over onto his back. “You don’t know anything, Jongin. You only know what’s in front of your fucking face and everything beyond that is some mystical fucking secret.”

Rather than answer, Jongin surged up and kissed Sehun hard, hard enough that it hurt. Sehun bit him. But they were too far gone, too angry and too starved for each other’s affection. Hands tore at clothes, struggling to undo buttons and push shirts off shoulders. Jongin rolled them over, getting on top of Sehun, and he raked his nails down his back.

“I shouldn’t even let you touch me.” Sehun snarled, digging his nails into Jongin’s shoulders. “Not after what you did. Not after you stuck your dick in someone else.”

“Then why do you still want me?” Jongin reached down and palmed Sehun’s erection. “You still want me as badly as you did before. I heard you jerking off in the shower last night.”

“I can’t stand to have you touch me.”

“You’re doing a piss poor job of showing that.” Sehun bit his shoulder and he groaned. “Don’t act like you don’t want me, Sehun.”

Sehun forced him over onto his back and climbed on top of him. “I won’t let you fuck me. Not after what you did.”

Jongin’s eyes gleamed. “Then fuck me.”

“It’s going to hurt.”

“I think there’s still lube in my toiletries bag.” Sehun got up and looked, and sure enough there was a small bottle of lube.

“Skank. Still carrying this around.”

“Don’t try to dirty talk me, it never works.” Jongin whimpered when Sehun slapped the back of his thigh.

“It’s going to hurt.” This time Jongin seemed to get what he meant. Sehun wasn’t gentle stretching him open, and he was even less gentle when he finally pushed in. But Jongin still let him, didn’t do anything but moan and claw at the sheets.

Sehun had worked himself up into a frenzy when he wrapped one hand around Jongin’s neck and squeezed. Jongin’s eyes popped open, focused on Sehun’s. The trust in them made Sehun angrier.

“I hate you.” Sehun punctuated each word with a hard thrust. “I have never hated anyone like I hate you.”

“I know.” He wheezed out. Sehun let his hand drop and went back to thrusting as hard and deep as he could. Jongin was sobbing messily when he finally came. They hadn’t had any condoms so Sehun pulled out and added to the mess on Jongin’s stomach.

Both of them lay there for a while, emotional exhaustion conquering physical. Sehun didn’t realize he was crying until Jongin wiped his face gently.

“I’m going to clean up, I’m all spunky.” Even with the mess dripping down his body, Jongin still tucked the blanket around Sehun and gave him a few tissues before disappearing into the bathroom. Sehun curled in on himself, crying painfully into the pillow.

Jongin examined himself in the mirror as he cleaned up. His face was a little red from where Sehun had hit him, there were scratches all over his back, a few bite marks on his shoulders. Sehun’s rage was painted all over him.

Once he was cleaned up, Jongin curled up behind Sehun, cuddling him close to his body. He was still crying, his shoulders shaking with the force of it.

“I love you. God help me, I do.” Sehun whimpered out, his voice half muffled by the tissue over his face.

“I love you too, Hunnie.” Jongin pressed a kiss behind his ear. “I’m sorry.”

\--

Sehun slept most of the way back to town. Luhan and Minseok had overheard pretty much everything, from Jongin and Sehun screaming at each other to the headboard smacking against the wall. Sehun was sure that meant the rest of the family knew what had happened. Rather than talk to Tao, he went to sleep. Tao didn’t mind. He was just glad they’d made a move in one direction or the other, even if it had started off as a screaming match.

Sehun woke up to the sound of rain on the car. “We’re back in town?” He asked groggily, eyes still closed.

“Yep. We’re just coming through the city limits.” Tao was glad to be home.

“Drop me off at Krystal and Amber’s.” Sehun sleepily gave him the directions and Tao rerouted to their apartment. He’d grown rather fond of the two witches, especially with everything they’d done for his family.

“Give them my love.” Tao said as Sehun got out of the car. He just half-waved and slouched towards the stairs, his duffel bag hanging over one shoulder.

Bergamot greeted him at the door, purring and rubbing himself against Sehun’s damp legs. “Hey Bergie.” Sehun murmured, knocking on the door.

Krystal opened the door, her long hair caught up into a massive bun at the back of her neck. “Hunnie! I thought you would go straight home.”

“I need the new set.” Sehun followed her into the kitchen, where Amber was using a tiny set of scales to weigh out ingredients for whatever was boiling on the stove and giving off blue steam.

“Hey Hunnie.” Amber leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “The new bracelets are all ready for you.”

“Thank you so much.” Sehun let all of his relief leak into his voice. Amber gave him a sharp look.

“Just how long did you wait before you asked me for a new set?” She asked, opening the box where she had kept the freshly carved bracelets. This set was silver, the metal a little thicker than the last set. Sehun dropped his old bracelets on the table and put the new ones on, sighing in relief when he felt them dampen his senses.

“I may have waited a touch too long.” Sehun said.

“That’s dangerous for you and you know it.”

“Yeah, but I also had other things on my mind.” He lifted his wrists to admire the craftsmanship. Amber had carved the runes in by hand and rubbed the silver so that the bracelets looked almost antique. They were more decorative, and Sehun could feel that they were stronger. “You did a beautiful job.”

“Thank you.” Amber’s eyes zeroed in on a mark on Sehun’s neck. “Is that a hickey?”

Sehun slapped his hand over it like a mosquito. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Did you have fun at the wedding?” Krystal made him a cup of tea while he described the parts of the wedding he could remember.

“Oh, we made something for Moonsik.” Amber said when he mentioned the baby. “I mean, I don’t know if Luhan and Minseok are okay with magic stuff around the baby, but we made something for him.”

“They hung amber around his crib. I think after seeing me work they’re pretty used to the idea of magic. What did you make him?” Sehun nearly wept into his tea when he saw what they had made.

It was a beautiful mobile of flowers and stars, charmed to move when Moonsik was upset. The stars would glow, and the flowers were real. No strings held the charms to the base.

“It’s absolutely beautiful. I think they’d love it.” Sehun picked it up and saw runes etched into the top. “Is this the spell that makes it move?”

“The outer ring is. Krystal wrote the inner ring of runes.” Amber hugged her girlfriend around the waist. “It’s a spell to make him always feel loved and protected.”

“It’s a beautiful gift. They’ll really appreciate it.” Sehun finished the last of his tea. “Could one of you give me a ride home? Tao dropped me off.”

Krystal drove him home and they made small talk about what else needed to be done to get the shop ready. They’d collected all their inventory; now was the time to start building the shop. They’d need to go furniture shopping and paint, figure out how to cordon off a back room.

“You should take tomorrow to rest. You’ve been doing a lot of traveling and the new set will take some getting used to.” Krystal said when she pulled up to the apartment building. “I’m probably going to work on potions tomorrow to get our stock set up.”

“Okay. I think rest would be good for me.” Sehun felt far older than his actual age. He practically dragged himself up the stairs to his apartment and collapsed immediately on his couch. He wanted to curse when his phone started ringing in his jacket pocket. It couldn’t be Jongin, not this early, and not after last night. They’d hardly spoken this morning as they packed up to leave.

Sehun noticed with some surprise that it was Minho calling him. Something wasn’t wrong with Kibum, was there? He clicked the accept button, praying that Jonghyun would be able to take care of anything that might happen with Kibum.

“Hello?” Sehun said.

“Hey, did I catch you in the middle of something?” Minho asked.

“No, I just got home from a wedding. I’m hanging at home. What’s up?” There was a note of panic in his voice that Minho seemed to zero in on.

“Nothing’s wrong.” He assured him. “I’m not calling for ghost business.”

“Oh.” Sehun paused. “Then why are you calling?” He and Minho weren’t really friends outside their ghostly bonding experiences.

Minho sighed. “I’m calling on behalf of one of my patients, Taemin Lee.”

It took every ounce of effort for Sehun to not immediately hang up. “Why?”

“I understand that the two of you have a very complicated history together.” There was the rustling of papers in the background. “Taemin gave me permission to call you and discuss what we’ve spoken about in his appointments. I’m going to be very frank, Sehun, I’m out of my element here. I’ve never had to reintegrate someone’s past life memories into their present life, and I can’t believe I’m saying that.”

“Ghosts have a tendency to make things very strange very quickly.” Sehun felt like his face had gone numb. “I’m going to ask again, why are you calling me?”

“Taemin feels that to move forward, he needs to speak to you. I would assume to make amends, but apparently you were also familiar with his…spirit form. He feels that speaking with you would help him move on.”

“I don’t think I want to do that, Minho.”

“I completely understand. I told Taemin that it would be unlikely that you would say yes and to not get his hopes up. If you were to speak to each other, it would be in my office so I could mediate and help move the conversation in the most beneficial way for both parties.”

“I…” Sehun rubbed his face with one hand. “I don’t think I can see him. I’m sorry Minho, I wish I could be more help but that’s asking too much of me.”

“It’s all right. Take care, Sehun.”

Instead of stewing on his couch, Sehun went to take a bath. The water was so hot it practically boiled his skin but it felt too good to get out. The herbs he’d dropped in and the hot water soothed his sore muscles and calmed the storm that was brewing inside him.

What right did Taemin have to call him and ask for his help? That took a lot of balls after what he had done. Sehun did feel a little bad for Minho, who hadn’t known what he was signing up for when he took Taemin on as a patient.

Sehun kind of wished he hadn’t thrown in an herb for clarity when he started to examine his feelings towards Taemin. It was hard to separate him into two separate people, but that’s what he was. Taemin the ghost had been Sehun’s friend, had helped save Junmyeon. Taemin the man had done something horrible to Sehun. But they were the same person, weren’t they? Hadn’t Taemin the man recognized him, known him from his time as a ghost? Didn’t Sehun owe his friend at least a conversation?

Sehun resolved to talk to Junmyeon about it the next time he saw him. This was not the night for deep thinking, not when his body was acclimating to new magic. He ate an early dinner and went to sleep just as a thunderstorm started to roll in off the ocean.

It was late when Sehun woke up to a thunder clap. He blinked, tried to rub one eye. He couldn’t move his arms. He tried to wiggle his toes, move his legs. He was paralyzed.

A crack of lightning illuminated his room, and if he could have, he would have screamed. There was a face made of shadows sticking out of his ceiling, two eyes like black holes watching him. The imprint of that sight was burned into his eyes. As soon as he could sit up, he turned on the lamp. Nothing on his ceiling, nothing to show that there had ever been anything there.

“Sleep paralysis.” He muttered, lying back down. It had happened before, had scared the shit out of Jongin a few times. Just sleep paralysis, nothing more.

\--

“Minho called you for that? Is he insane?” Junmyeon asked, staring at Sehun over his cup of tea.

“Keep your voice down, Moonsik just fell asleep.” Sehun scolded, leaning back in his chair to see if Moonsik had moved at all. He was still curled up with his teddy bear peacefully.

“He must have lost his mind.” Junmyeon said in a softer voice. “You told him no?”

“I did.” Sehun took a bite of lemon cake. “I think I might have to call him back though.”

“You actually want to talk to Taemin?”

“I mean, Taemin the guy who slept with my boyfriend, no. Taemin the guy who I was friends with and helped save you from the astral plane, yes. I feel like I owe that part of him something. I mean, look at how fucked up you and I were when we went through that exorcism. He’s got two completely different people in him. He’s got to merge all these memories together from being a dancer in the 70s with being Taemin in the 21st century.”

“So you want to do this for your friend, not to get back at him for hurting you?”

“Of course I’m still pissed about that. But I’m trying to think about it in terms of when I died.” Junmyeon’s face twisted. He still didn’t like reminders about that time. “I came back with a whole new power that I can’t control. If I had come back in a different body with different memories that I had to assimilate myself into, that would have been much worse.”

“Good point.” Junmyeon took a sip of tea. “I think if Minho’s going to be there, and you can do this without hurting yourself, it might be good, for both of you.”

“It’s still going to hurt, but I think I need to do it.”

“You realize now we have to talk about Jongin.”

“Do we really have to? Can’t you just ask me about the shop like everyone else?”

“I could, but that’s not what I care about right now.” Junmyeon shook his head. “You two have been up and down for months, and then over breakfast Luhan tells me that he heard you and Jongin screaming at each other and then going at it. What happened, Hunnie?”

“I lost my shit. Again.” Sehun felt a twist of guilt in his stomach when he thought about the way he’d hit Jongin. “I got wasted at the wedding because the crowd was too much and I was being bitter about Heechul and Gunhee, and I was dancing on one of Heechul’s friends.”

“That part I saw.”

“Then Jongin came to get me and we argued a little, and then you and Kris made me go back to the hotel with him and I just got so pissed off that I started yelling at him.” He continued in a small voice. “I smacked him again.”

“Sehun.” The disappointment in Junmyeon’s voice made Sehun feel two inches tall.

“I know. I know. I feel terrible about it. I was just so mad and I couldn’t control myself. And then it turned into hate sex and then I had a nice mental breakdown to cap it all off.”

“So where do you guys stand now?”

“I love him. I hate him, and I love him. We haven’t talked since I was sobbing my eyes out, so I don’t really know where he stands.”

“And what about you?”

“I would break up with me, if I was him.” Sehun laughed bitterly. “I mean, I beat the shit out of him, I’ve been the world’s worst boyfriend, and then I hit him again. I wouldn’t stay with me.”

“But you want him to stay with you.”

“I do.” Sehun struggled to find words and settled for taking several long sips of tea. Junmyeon let him collect his thoughts in silence. “My life would be worse if he wasn’t in it. I want him around.”

“Then you guys should talk, and soon.” Junmyeon let him change the subject to the shop finally and offered to help them pick out furniture and paint. For all his messiness, Junmyeon did have an eye for interior decorating.

Moonsik woke up from his nap and Sehun stayed to play with him for a little while before going home. He was still feeling the effects of the new bracelets, but not nearly as badly as the night before. It was more of a fuzziness in his head now.

Sehun had been home for about half an hour before he called Jongin and asked him to come over. He knew it would take approximately ten minutes for Jongin to get to his place, and he spent those ten minutes getting everything ready.

It was weird to have Jongin knock, he thought as he went to let him in. He’d always just barged in before. He didn’t look any worse for wear, although Sehun was pretty sure he’d left some bite marks on his shoulders that were hidden under his sweatshirt.

“Hey.” Jongin looked as uncomfortable as he always did, unsure of how Sehun was going to react.

“Hi.” He kissed Jongin gently, first on the lips and then on the cheek he had hit. “Come on in.”

“You got the new set?” Jongin asked, noticing the silver shining around his wrists as he followed him into the kitchen.

“Tao dropped me off at Amber and Krystal’s place yesterday so I could pick them up.” He held them up to the light so Jongin could see them better. “They’re prettier than the old ones.”

“They are.” Jongin stopped at the kitchen table, peering into the silver bowl. “Is this weed?”

“All the time you’ve spent with me and you think that’s weed?” Sehun laughed, the first real laugh Jongin had heard in months.

“You’re in a good mood.”

“I feel good.” Sehun turned back to face him. “I’m sorry about the other night. I shouldn’t have hit you.”

“It’s all right, Hunnie.”

“No, it’s not. Don’t make excuses for me.” Sehun shook his head. “I should never raise a hand to you. It doesn’t matter how angry I am or how drunk I am.” He pointed into the bowl with the tip of the candle lighter in his hand. “That’s what this is for.”

“Are we going to smoke this?”

Sehun clicked his tongue in exasperation. “No, we’re not. This is skullcap. It’s used to seal oaths.” Sehun lit the herbs and blew on them to get them to smoke. “Give me your hand.”

“What are you doing?” Jongin asked, even as he took Sehun’s hand.

“I swear that I will never raise a hand to you in anger again.” The smoke coiled around their wrists. He repeated his oath two more times, and the smoke darkened briefly, before dissipating. “There. Now even if I lose my shit, I can’t hurt you.”

“Sehun, you didn’t need to do that.”

“I did. You were right. I was the one that made the choice to come back, and I don’t get to take my anger out on you.” Sehun’s smile turned sly. “I could still hit you in bed if you wanted though.”

Jongin’s ears turned pink. “I see why you phrased it like that now.” He looked down at the bowl of smoldering herbs. “I feel like I should make an oath too.”

“Don’t. You don’t need to promise me anything binding.” For good measure, Sehun blew out the herbs and covered the bowl with a plate to catch the rest of the smoke. “I want to do this right, Jongin. As angry as I am, and as angry as I’ll probably always be, I do still love you. And I want to be with you.”

“I love you too. And I’ll always feel guilty for what I did.”

The evening felt so painfully normal that Sehun could hardly stand it. They ordered a pizza and watched a movie cuddled up on the couch together. They got ready for bed together, easily slipping into their old routine. Jongin hesitated a little before he rested his head on Sehun’s chest, but relaxed when Sehun kissed his hair and stroked his back.

Sehun lay awake for a long time after Jongin fell asleep, thinking and sorting through his feelings. There would always be anger in their relationship, that seemed undeniable. But Sehun kept replaying that night in his head, watching himself slap Jongin across the face. He didn’t ever want to give into his anger like that again, not when Jongin was trying so hard to make amends, and been nothing but faithful and attentive even in the face of Sehun’s rage.

Sehun cuddled him closer, smiling when Jongin let out a sleepy mumble. They could be wonderful again. Sehun just had to let him in.

He felt at peace for the first time in months. The two of them slept on, unaware of the eyes like two black holes watching them, waiting.

\--

Sehun really wished he hadn’t agreed to do this. Jongin had been supportive of his decision, even though he personally didn’t want to have contact with Taemin anymore. Krystal had looked at him like he was insane, but had let him skip out on furniture shopping, taking Junmyeon along with her instead.

So here he was, sitting in Minho’s office on one of his nice leather chairs, hoping he wouldn’t throw up or lose his shit. Minho had gone to make him a cup of tea; Taemin wasn’t scheduled to show up for another ten minutes.

“Here you go. Careful the cup is kind of thin.” Minho handed him the disposable cup, the smell of mint wafting up to him.

“Minho, you need to be prepared for this to get ugly.” Sehun said, holding the cup with both hands. “I don’t know how I’m going to react, or what he wants from me. It might get nasty.”

“I’m prepared. I used to be able to throw Junmyeon around.” Sehun glanced down at his midsection, hidden under a sensible sweater and collared shirt. He’d seen Junmyeon shirtless; his eyes had nearly bugged out of his head because no one expected sweet, motherly Suho to be ripped to shreds.

“Noted.” Sehun took a sip of tea and burned his mouth. At least it gave him something to do while they waited for Taemin to show up.

The man who walked in looked more like the Taemin he had known: short blond hair, sharp cheekbones, leopard print scarf. But he blinked, and the age and pain that had been behind the other Taemin’s eyes disappeared. Instead was a young man, still fresh and full of life. That was the Taemin that he hated.

“Sehun. Thank you for coming.” Taemin sounded surprised, but also a little choked up. Sehun didn’t let himself think about smacking him. He deserved it, certainly, but that wouldn’t be productive for either of them. Plus Minho could probably throw him through a wall.

“Minho called, and I figured I owed it to…part of you to come.” Sehun didn’t miss the flinch.

“I know. I’m so, so sorry for what I did, Sehun. I know it’s not really an excuse, but the memories of who I had been started flooding in, and I got confused and I made a mistake.”

“Memories are a powerful thing.”

“Taemin, what are you really asking him?” Minho broke in, using his soft therapist voice.

“I guess I want his forgiveness. I know I shouldn’t get it, but I do want it.” Taemin looked at Sehun with soft eyes that reminded him too much of his ghost self. “Could you forgive me?”

“I want to.” Sehun admitted. “I want to forgive you, because then we could both move on. But I don’t think that’s possible, not right now.”

“I understand.” He still looked crestfallen. “What I did was pretty bad.”

Sehun sighed, putting his cup of tea down so he could rub the heels of his palms into his eyes. “I forgave Jongin. But there’s something in me that can’t forgive you.”

“Why do you think that is?” Sehun wanted to hit Minho.

“Because he slept with my boyfriend?”

“You forgave Jongin for it. Why not Taemin?”

“Taemin owed me something.” Sehun gestured at him. “The reason he’s sitting over there, having these memories, it’s because I helped him move on. My relationship with Jongin suffered because I helped him move on, and my relationship suffered again because he came back into our lives.”

“So you feel that Taemin owed you loyalty?” Minho scribbled something on his pad.

“You’re not psychoanalyzing me, Minho. I came here to help him, not to go through therapy.” Sehun warned. He turned back to Taemin. “But maybe I thought you owed me loyalty. I freed you from having to haunt that house forever. And I was repaid by you invading my home, my relationship.”

“It was my house first.” Taemin shot back. There was that fiery punk kid in him. “And Jongin was mine first.”

“You were dead! I don’t really think dibs counts when you’re dead!”

“Both of you, take a breath.” Minho scolded. “Jongin is a person. He doesn’t belong to either of you, he’s not property.”

Sehun gritted his teeth and glared out the window. “I understand that these memories you have are confusing. But you aren’t that person anymore. You’re assimilating those memories into your present life but you are _not_ the Taemin who haunted that house. Part of your spirit is recycled into a new body and it brings memories with it. You have a life other than that.”

“Is that what happened to me?” Taemin looked surprised. Sehun blinked, then remembered he’d been with Kibum almost immediately after they found Taemin again. He hadn’t been around to explain it.

“From what I understand, the presence in the cottage was an imprint of the person who had lived there. Part of his spirit was already gone, moved on and recycled into yours. I think that when I helped that Taemin move on, more of his spirit merged with yours. You share a name, and memories, but you are the essential spirit in the body.”

“Taemin was my grandfather’s brother. My mother named me after him.” Taemin sat back in his armchair. “So, I’m made up of my great-uncle, but also my own person?”

“You’re sort of a Venn diagram. There was the old Taemin, and there’s you, and there’s a spot where they overlap.” Sehun snorted, remembering the ghost. “You and I didn’t get along very well when you were a ghost, either.”

“Because of Jongin.” Taemin closed his eyes. “I-he was jealous of your relationship. You were living his dream.”

“But when it came time, he asked me to give him peace. And I did.”

“And you’ve given me peace, a little.” Taemin rubbed his forehead. “I’m sorry I caused you so much trouble.”

Sehun hesitated for a moment. “I forgive you.”

“Do you?”

“I forgive you. It takes too much to hold this hatred in my heart. I forgive you, Taemin.”

“Thank you.” He promptly burst into tears. Sehun was shooed out of the room by Minho; he couldn’t have been gladder to escape. He needed to be in a less stressful environment.

Krystal and Junmyeon were still in the next town over, so Sehun stopped by the coffee shop to see Luhan and Jongdae. Moonsik was strapped to Luhan’s chest in some kind of baby carrying backpack, happily sucking on a pacifier.

“Aww, did he get to come to work with his daddy today?” Sehun said, leaning over the counter to pet Moonsik’s downy little head.

“Appa’s dusting so baba took him.” Luhan said in a baby voice. Then he frowned at himself. “This is gross.”

“I think it’s cute, honestly.” Sehun made a funny face at Moonsik. “We’re all obsessed with him.”

“So how’ve you been?” Luhan’s question was very pointed.

“I got my new set of bracelets, so I’m doing much better. And Jongin and I are doing much better.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Luhan lowered his voice. “Something’s up with Jongdae.”

“What do you mean?”

Luhan peeked over his shoulder and relaxed when he didn’t see Jongdae’s head. “He’s not sleeping. Every day he comes in and he looks worse. And whenever I ask about it he makes it seem like he’s just having insomnia or something. But he’s late every day and as soon as we’re done closing he flies out of here.”

“What do you think he’s doing?”

“I don’t know. I’d say he was having an affair but Jongdae’s not that type.”

“Some married woman he can only see at night?”

“That’s all I can think of. It has to be something human, though. Otherwise he would have asked you about it by now.”

“Huh. Well, if he won’t tell you, he certainly won’t tell me. I guess we’re just going to see how things go.” Sehun glanced back and saw a line forming behind him. “I’ll get out of your way. I’m going to go put some paint samples up in the shop.”

“Take pictures if you need another opinion.”

It was still surreal to unlock the shop and see the skeleton of what would be his very own business. There were boxes of stones, amulets, and herbs stacked along the back wall, and a glass counter. The rest of the store was still empty. Sehun found the small pots of paint samples and got to work painting swatches on the wall.

Junmyeon and Krystal came back with several boxes of furniture loaded into the back of Kris’s truck. “We’re going to put these together with Kris in case anything needs to be fixed.” Junmyeon wheezed, setting down one of the boxes.

“That’s a really good idea. Plus Kris is huge and he can do most of the heavy lifting.” Sehun was sure he had thrown his back out helping carry in the boxes.

They decided on the midnight blue and texted Chanyeol to ask if he would help paint a design on one of the walls. He was probably up to his elbows in paint and didn’t respond while Sehun was still at the shop.

Sehun was exhausted by the time he got home. It was both startlingly familiar and surprising to see Jongin sitting on his couch, reading a book.

“I forgot I had given you the spare key.” Sehun said, taking off his jacket and shoes.

“I figured I’d wait here so I could be here when you got back from talking with Minho.” Jongin opened his lap for Sehun to curl into.

“I think I didn’t realize that Taemin didn’t know why he had all those memories. He was very surprised when I explained it to him. But he wanted my forgiveness.”

“And did you give it?”

“I did.” He looked up at Jongin. “If you want to talk to him, I’m not going to be mad.”

“I don’t think I should. It just feels wrong.” Jongin shrugged. “I’m glad that you’re getting some peace from this.”

“It’s hard to be so angry. Maybe it’s the new bracelets helping even me out, but I don’t want to be so angry anymore.”

“I’m glad.” They made small talk for a little while before Jongin squeezed his knee. “I know this isn’t a very romantic way to bring this up, but do you want to go have sex?”

“Is there a romantic way to ask someone to fuck?” Sehun laughed, sitting up. “Honestly I’m surprised you didn’t just start feeling me up.”

“I didn’t think you’d appreciate it.”

“You’re allowed to touch me. We’ve made our peace, we’re together. You can touch me.”

“Are you okay with me topping?”

Sehun paused. “Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

It was everything the last time they’d had sex wasn’t. Jongin was gentle, achingly slow, working Sehun up until he was ready to scream. Any hesitation Sehun had had about being physical with Jongin went out the window once Jongin had slid inside him. It was right to be with him, to feel his weight and hold his broad shoulders.

Sehun had been holding onto his shoulders, eyes closed and mouth working over Jongin’s neck when he opened his eyes, and saw two looking back at him from the wall. He screamed and scuttled backwards, startling Jongin. The eyes vanished.

“What? What’s the matter?” Jongin asked, running his hands over Sehun’s legs gently. “Did I hurt you?”

“There were eyes on the wall behind you.” Sehun said in a shaking voice. “They were looking at me.”

“Hunnie, there’s nothing there.” Jongin turned back to him. “Unless I can’t see them.”

“They’re gone now.” Sehun swallowed, his throat dry. “I’ve seen them before.”

“Shh, it’s all right.” Jongin held him close until he stopped shaking. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

“Not exactly super romantic.” Sehun managed a chuckle when he was calmer. “Screaming bloody murder in the middle of fucking must have been scary.”

“I thought I’d hurt you really badly.” Jongin kissed the top of his head. “You’re okay.” The two of them lay in bed for a while until Sehun’s stomach started to growl.

“I really don’t feel like cooking.”

“Thai?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Jongin got up and went into the other room to find the takeout menus to call in their order. Sehun found his boxers and approached the wall cautiously. With shaking fingers, he touched where he had seen the eyes. The wall didn’t feel any different, there wasn’t any strange smell.

But he remembered those eyes. He remembered brushing them off as a nightmare. He had lit a bundle of sage and was cleansing the room with it when Jongin came back in.

“You think something was here?” Jongin asked, watching his careful movements with the sage.

“I’ve seen those eyes before. I thought it was sleep paralysis making me hallucinate.” Satisfied with his work, Sehun extinguished the sage and sat back down next to Jongin. “That’s not like any spirit I’ve seen before.”

“We’ll get through this.” Jongin assured him. Sehun felt a chill in his bones, like icy breath on the back of his neck.

\--

“Are you sure we should be here?” Sehun hissed, chasing after Luhan.

“He’s spending time with my baby. I need to make sure he’s not on fucking drugs or something.” Luhan knocked firmly on the door. Sehun wished he hadn’t agreed to come on this trip. But Luhan could be something of a hot head and he didn’t want to see his friendship with Jongdae ruined.

Sehun heard Jongdae’s muffled voice, and then footsteps coming towards the door. “Hey, what are you guys doing here?” He said when he opened the door, his shoulders blocking the view of his apartment.

“We need to talk. Uh, not in the hallway.” Luhan moved to step inside; Jongdae blocked his way.

“Is something wrong?” Jongdae’s face was usually so open and relaxed; now it was pinched with worry. Sehun twisted his fingers together and his bracelets clanked on his wrists. Luhan and Sehun both watched as Jongdae’s eyes zeroed in on the bracelets and the color drained out of his face.

“Jongdae, _now_.” Luhan invaded his space and this time Jongdae stepped back. Luhan went in, while Sehun hesitated on the outside.

“You may as well come in, Sehun.” Jongdae sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

“Dae, we’re not here to lynch you.” Sehun took the time to hug Jongdae, who was shaking. “We’re worried about you, man.”

But as soon as Sehun stepped into the apartment, he knew why Jongdae had been so reluctant to let them in. It wasn’t drugs, or an affair, or even some kind of gambling addiction (Minseok’s theory) that they found in there.

“Oh, Jongdae.” Sehun sat on the couch. “Are you okay?”

“I’m _fine_. I don’t know why you had to bust in here. Nothing is wrong.” Jongdae was holding himself around the middle like he was trying to keep himself together.

“You show up late every day, you’re not sleeping, I doubt you’re eating. Explain to me how _fine_ you are.” Luhan raked his hand through his hair. “I need you to be okay, man. I have a baby now. You’re my business partner and when you fuck up, it fucks me up too.”

“Luhan.” Sehun’s tone was sharp. “Ease up.”

“Why are you so calm?” Luhan rounded on him. “Do you know something I don’t know?” He seemed to think about it for a second. “Is there someone else here?”

“We’ll walk out right now, Jongdae.” Sehun said, standing up. “I’m not going to make you do something you don’t want to.”

“It was only a matter of time before someone found out.” Jongdae had never looked so dejected in his life. “Luna? You can come out.”

Sehun was prepared for it; Luhan was not. He screeched and jumped aside when a woman materialized right next to him. Sehun’s heart broke for Jongdae.

“Hello.” Sehun said, stepping forward. “My name is Sehun.”

“I know who you are.” The woman shrank behind Jongdae slightly.

“He won’t hurt you.” Jongdae assured her softly. “I won’t let him.”

“Jongdae, I wouldn’t ever hurt someone you care about.” Sehun guessed that was what this was about.

“This is Luna.” Jongdae presented her. “My girlfriend.”

“You’re dating a ghost?” Luhan blew out a long breath. “Man, on the list of things we thought you were doing dating a ghost was not on it.”

“That’s why you never wanted me to check the apartment for ghosts. You knew she was here.” Sehun considered her. She was beautiful: a perfect heart shaped face framed by flowing dark hair; soft eyes; a gentle mouth. Sehun knew exactly how Jongdae had fallen in love with her.

“I was living here for a while before we met.” Jongdae and Luna’s hands were close enough that if she had been corporeal, she could have been holding his hand in support.

“Jongdae, will you please stop looking at me like that?” Sehun shook his head; Luhan instinctively reached for him to comfort him. “I’m not going to exorcise your girlfriend. Jesus Christ.”

“We just needed to know you were okay.” Luhan seemed to have gotten a grip on the situation finally. “I mean, we thought you were in trouble. If you can handle everything, then I’m happy for you.”

“I’ve seen pictures of your baby. He is beautiful.” Luna told Luhan.

“I just wanted to be sure that Jongdae was all right and he could be around my baby.” Luhan approached Jongdae slowly and enveloped him in a hug. “I’m glad you’re all right, Dae.”

“We should leave him be, Lu.” Sehun guided Luhan towards the door. “Dae, you’re in charge of this. If you want to tell anyone, that’s your decision. Luhan and I are both going to keep this quiet. Not even Jongin or Minseok.”

“I appreciate it.” Jongdae looked about two seconds from collapsing from nerves. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Luhan.”

They were quiet until they were in the car, pulling away from the building.

“What the _fuck_?” Luhan was glad he wasn’t driving because he felt like his brain was leaking out of his ears. “He’s dating a ghost?”

“I can’t say I’m thrilled, but in terms of the other things we thought might be going on, that’s pretty good.” Sehun turned the steering wheel easily. “He’s not ready to let her go, and she doesn’t want to move on. It’s out of my hands.”

“How do you know that?”

“Would he be staying up all night to see her if they weren’t happy? Would he run home to her every night if he wasn’t happy?”

“I guess you’re right.” Luhan sighed, leaning back in his seat. “You know, my life was a lot simpler before I knew about ghosts and shit.”

“I’ve known about them since I was a kid. I don’t want to hear shit from you, Luhan.”

“I wish I had your patience for it. But I’m just not prepared for it.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, your townhouse is basically ghost-proof and the mobile that Amber and Krystal made for you will protect Moonsik.”

“That does make me feel a little better.” They fell into silence again. Sehun dropped Luhan off at the townhouse before heading to the cottage, where he and Jongin were planning on meeting. It would be nice to get out of his apartment; it had been giving him the creeps lately, and he had herb-bombed the entire place more than once.

Coming back to the cottage felt like coming home. Sehun doubted it would be much longer before he moved back in, even though he wanted to keep testing the strength of their relationship before he made the move. He didn’t want to have to have his friends pack up his things and move him out a second time.

\--

“Is there anything specific you want me to paint?” Chanyeol asked, setting up his work bench.

“We trust you.” Sehun didn’t look up from where he was counting out bolts. “Just do what feels right.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol dipped a small brush into the cup of white paint and began to work. Kris, Junmyeon, and Krystal were setting out the boards in the order they needed to be put together. Sehun had been shivering all day and Krystal was convinced he was getting sick, so he had been relegated to organizing bolts and screws.

“Is Jongin coming after all?” Krystal asked when she came to collect the first batch of bolts.

“He’s got a phone meeting with someone and then he’s going to come over.” Sehun wrapped the blanket tighter around his shoulders. He felt like he’d swallowed a glacier.

“Good, we could use the extra pair of hands.” Kris said. “Junnie, can you hold that board for me?”

“I can help put furniture together if you need me.” Chanyeol called from his spot by the wall. He was pretty handy, although Kris the carpenter put everyone to shame.

“We’ll be okay once Jongin gets here.” Junmyeon assured him. Sehun didn’t like sitting by the counter watching other people do manual labor, but every time he so much as twitched Krystal turned and glared at him.

Jongin showed up about halfway through the second shelving unit, bringing a cup of tea for Sehun and a new picture of Moonsik. He’d been at the café with Luhan again and was snoozing happily against his dad’s chest.

Sehun was sipping his tea and watching Chanyeol paint dainty stars onto the wall when he felt the first drip. He wiggled his nose and sniffled. A droplet rolled onto his upper lip.

“Ugh, I hate having a runny nose.” He said, reaching for a napkin off the stack leftover from lunch.

“Sehun, you’re bleeding.” Jongin said, holding the napkin under his nose. Junmyeon was staring at him strangely.

“Krystal, do you see that too?” He murmured, pointing at Sehun. Krystal looked up, and her heart sank. _Not again. Please, give him a break._

“See what?” Sehun asked nasally, his head tipped back to stem the flow of blood.

“You have two shadows.” Junmyeon could see them distinctly, the shape immediately behind him, and the one that was like a fuzzy imprint, an afterimage.

“I don’t see it.” Jongin said.

“I do.” Sehun raised his arm. One shadow moved; the other didn’t.

“What’s going on?” Kris demanded.

“I don’t know.” Krystal hurried around the counter and picked up one of the books she and Amber had copied. “I mean, I think I know, but I’m not sure. And I really hope I’m wrong.”

“You’re scaring me.” Sehun checked his nose; no more blood. There was a tense silence that seemed to curdle as Krystal flicked through the book, a grim look on her face.

“Oh, Sehunnie.” She whispered. “Does this look familiar?” She turned the book and he saw the illustration. A face made of wispy shadows, with eyes like two black holes.

“I’ve seen it in my apartment.” He said. “What is it?”

“It’s a-” She paused, as if her chest hurt. “It’s a demon.”

\--

“You shouldn’t come in.” Sehun said numbly as Jongin walked him up to his door. “It’s not safe.”

“I don’t care.” Jongin held the door open for him.

“No, Jongin. You should go home.”

“I’m not going to leave you alone. So don’t try to make me go.”

Sehun didn’t have it in him to argue, so he let Jongin come inside with him. He just wanted to go to bed.

It had been an exceptionally long day. As soon as Krystal had pronounced he was being haunted by a demon, Junmyeon and Kris had called a family meeting. Minseok had stayed home with Moonsik, but everyone else was there. It reminded Sehun too much of the day that Junmyeon had been possessed and everyone had dropped everything to get to the house. Only this time, Sehun was the focus of their fear.

He wanted to throw up. He wanted to scream, to cry, to curl up in a ball and never move again. What had he done that he deserved this fate? He’d bled and died to save other people and now he was damned for it.

Amber had found the demon in a different set of books and determined exactly what it wanted. Obviously, Sehun’s soul, because he had died and been revived. This demon thrived on souls that had been resurrected. Sehun couldn’t tell when it had first started following him, only that he could feel its presence now. The air around him felt colder and more uncomfortable.

The fact that Jongin was even still near him made him feel ill. Getting Luhan to leave had been almost harder.

_“I won’t leave you. I brought you back, and I’m going to make sure you stay back.” Luhan had insisted._

_“You need to get Moonsik out of here.” Amber warned. “He’s in danger as much as Sehun.”_

_“Minseok and Moonsik will go out of town. I’m staying.” Luhan’s heart was breaking just thinking of leaving his Sehun._

_“And what happens if you die? Will Moonsik have to grow up without one of his dads?” Sehun had shot back. “I won’t be responsible for that. Take your family and go, Lu. You have more to think about now.”_

Sehun’s phone buzzed. Minseok’s number flashed across the screen. He pressed accept numbly and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hi Min.”

“Sehunnie…” It sounded like Minseok had been crying. “Oh, my sweet Sehunnie. I don’t want to leave you to face this alone.”

“I won’t be alone, Min. I’m going to be fine. But you and Lu and Moonsik need to go, for your safety.”

“It goes against everything this family has always stood for. I feel like I’m running away.”

“I’m sending you to safety.” Sehun wiped his eyes. “Make sure you’re careful, wherever you go.”

“We’re going to Luhan’s family’s place a couple hours from here.”

“Good.” Sehun paused. “Listen, Min, if I don’t-”

“If the next words out of your mouth are “if I don’t make it”, I don’t want to hear it. You’re going to make it. Lu and Moonie and I will be gone until you tell us it’s safe to come back. And then I’m going to break every bone in your body with a hug.”

“Okay.” Sehun swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. “Kiss Lu and Moonsik for me.”

Jongin came into the room and wrapped Sehun up in a blanket, then bundled him into his lap. One big hand stroked over his hair, soothing him onto his shoulder. Sehun cried for the first time since Krystal had told him what was haunting him. He’d tried to keep it together for the sake of everyone else, but Jongin knew. Jongin could always tell.

“I’m not going to leave you.” Jongin crooned into his hair. “I’ll be with you every moment. And if something tries to take you from me, they’ll have to take both of us.”

Sehun felt like a ghost in his arms, not quite real and fading away. He dug his fingers into Jongin’s body, trying to anchor himself, even as he felt the other presence in the room. He knew if he looked, he could find those eyes like two black holes. He didn’t want to look. As long as he ignored its presence, everything would be fine, at least for tonight.

\--

“I’m really sorry to have to call you for this,” Sehun said softly when Kibum stopped squeezing him like an anaconda.

“You need me. I’m here.” Kibum said, kissing his forehead gently.

“Both of us are.” Jonghyun assured him.

“Thanks.” Sehun had been speaking in a whisper since he and Jongin had gotten up. It felt like if he spoke too loudly, he might actually collapse. He’d barely managed to make himself heard over the phone asking for Kibum and Jonghyun’s help. An exorcism took a full thirteen, and with Minseok and Luhan gone, they were short.

Everything felt too familiar. Amber and Krystal had painted the pentacle where it had been burned into Junmyeon’s floor. Sehun stripped off his shirt and allowed the two witches to paint the sigils on his skin like a sacrificial lamb. Jongin’s worried eyes met his as he lay down in the center of the pentacle.

Sehun wanted to scream at the circle around him to get away, to not risk themselves. But it would be like screaming at a brick wall. It was the only reason he had agreed to do this; he knew he couldn’t argue his way out of it.

“Everybody ready?” Amber asked, stepping into her place near Sehun’s head. The group joined hands and Sehun wondered if Junmyeon had woken up to something like this. Suho’s face was pinched and tense, standing just to the right of his shoulder.

As soon as the chanting started, it sounded like Sehun had been sucked into a wind tunnel. He couldn’t hear anything over the roaring in his ears; his fingers scrabbled for purchase on the wood floor, to give himself something to hold onto.

Sehun had a feeling he was screaming when the face appeared over him. The roaring didn’t stop, and out of the corners of his rolling eyes he could see the group was still chanting. But Jonghyun had looked up, had seen the face of the demon. If he could hear Sehun screaming, he knew why. Those eyes were horrible, all-consuming. Sehun felt a chill deep down in his soul at the sight of them.

There was a boom, and the group disappeared from Sehun’s line of sight. He felt pinned in place like a butterfly, unable to move as the face grew closer.

“Foolish mortal.” Its voice sounded like dry leaves skittering over concrete. “You are _mine_.” With that, Sehun felt himself float, his head dropping back limply.

Jongin watched in horror as Sehun levitated in the air, and came crashing down to the floor like he was a volleyball spiked by an invisible hand. It happened two, three more times, before Sehun was left bloody and limp on the floor.

Whatever had held all of them in place released them, and Jongin rushed for Sehun.

“Hunnie, Hunnie, look at me.” Jongin pleaded, holding Sehun’s upper body in his lap. Sehun groaned through bloody lips, limp in Jongin’s arms. “Come on baby, you’re gonna be okay. I’ve got you.”

“He needs to go to a hospital.” Kibum was insisting behind them.

“Sehun, come back to us.” Junmyeon wiped the blood off his mouth gently with a washcloth. Sehun looked at him through fluttering eyelashes, seeming barely conscious.

“And what hospital do you think we’ll be able to take him to?” Kyungsoo pointed out. “How do we explain this?”

“I’ve got him.” Krystal coaxed a small bottle between Sehun’s lips, pouring a thin green liquid down his throat. “It’s not perfect but he’ll live.” Sehun’s throat convulsed weakly as he swallowed the potion down.

“Well, I think we can mark that one down as a monumental failure.” Jongdae muttered, watching Sehun slowly regain alertness. Baekhyun, still sniffling into Tao’s shoulder, glared at him with watery eyes.

“We’re _trying_.” Baekhyun snapped. “We can’t lose Hunnie.”

“And we’re not going to.” Amber assured him. “Obviously this isn’t the kind of thing we can cure with an exorcism. We’re going to have to keep watch over Sehun and find a different solution.”

Sehun, slowly coming to, was not in the mood to listen to people arguing. He let Kris carry him up to the guest bedroom. The older man tried not to think about how small and frail Sehun felt in his arms, or the blood that he left on his shirt.

Junmyeon and Yixing were waiting outside when he left Jongin to get Sehun tucked in. Kris didn’t say anything, just held out his arms for his partners. When everything was wrong, Kris could somehow make it seem right, just by holding them. They depended on him to make everything seem okay, if only for a moment.

Jongin lay down with Sehun, watching as the potion took effect and he fully woke up. He groaned, one hand on his head.

“That fucking hurt.” Sehun whined, feeling at the back of his head at the sore spot.

“I bet it did.” Jongin peppered kisses on his face. “Amber and Krystal are looking for something else to try.”

“And if it doesn’t work?” Sehun seized Jongin’s arm, eyes bright and wild. “Jongin, you have to be ready to let me go.” Jongin looked at him in horror, but he kept going. “This demon wants me and he wants me enough to take me. You have to be ready to let me go.”

“Sehun, I won’t let you go. I’m yours and you’re mine and that’s it.” Jongin cradled his hand, kissing his knuckles gently. “Don’t ask me to do something I can’t.”

Sehun didn’t answer, just lay back on the pillows looking exhausted. Jongin kept a careful watch, a silent vigil. He wouldn’t let anything take his Sehun, not without a fight.

\--

It was late at night when Sehun got out of bed. Jongin was sleeping peacefully still, curled around the warm spot Sehun had left.

Almost mechanically, Sehun walked downstairs to the living room, where the burned remains of the pentacle still lay. Everyone had been a little too exhausted to deal with cleaning it. A light frost crunched under Sehun’s bare feet as he crossed the grass to the storage shed.

“Good boy,” the voice purred. “You come when you’re called.”

“I wanted to talk to you.” Sehun’s voice sounded mechanical.

“And what did you want to talk about?” The shadows wrapped around Sehun like a cloak.

“Is it only me you want?”

“You’re the only one to have slipped through my grasp. I won’t let it happen again.”

“And you’ll only take me?”

The shadows seemed to understand. “Your friends will be safe. Just come with me.”

Sehun’s head moved up and down of its own accord. “Yes.” He lifted a length of rope off the wall, part of it dragging behind him as he wandered back into the house. There, in darkness, his hands looped the rope expertly until it was a perfect hangman’s knot. One end he worked through the light fixture in the living room. The loop he placed around his neck, tightening until the rope burned his skin.

Upstairs, Jongin woke up and reached for Sehun, only to find cooling sheets. He stumbled out of bed, going down the hall to the master bedroom. He shook Yixing awake, the closest to him.

“Sehun’s gone.” Jongin said urgently when he was awake. Yixing immediately woke the other two and they started downstairs. Kris flipped the living room lightswitch; Jongin screamed.

Sehun was dangling from a noose, his legs moving jerkily as his body fought for life.

“Get a chair!” Kris roared, hurrying to Sehun to try to loosen the noose. Yixing ran for the dining room chairs, bringing one back and climbing it to work on undoing the knot around the fixture.

Jongin could only watch in horror as they cut Sehun down and Junmyeon began checking his breathing and his pulse. He was alive, if unconscious. Jongin found himself on the couch wrapped in a blanket with Yixing’s hand crushed in his own, watching Junmyeon and Kris revive his boyfriend.

When he finally came around, Sehun burst into tears.

“No, no, no!” He wailed, weakly pushing at Junmyeon’s chest. “You should have let me go!”

“Hunnie, what are you talking about?” Junmyeon felt an icy knife digging in his gut.

“He wants me. Only me. If you let me go, you’d all be safe.” Sehun covered his face with his hands and cried.  

No one in the room could move or think, the horror of what he had just said weighing so heavily that it seemed to freeze them.

Kris was the first to break the silence. “You can fuck right off if you think I’m going to let you just _die_.” He lifted his head, looking around as if he could see the demon. “And you can fuck right off, too. He’s ours.” Sehun continued to cry weakly until he seemed to give up, eyes fixed on the ceiling. Jongin felt like throwing up, like screaming, like doing something other than just sitting and watching Sehun give up on his life.

Hours passed, the four of them keeping vigil with Sehun. The sun rose and fingers of light crossed Sehun’s body. He closed his eyes against the light. Jongin rose, went upstairs, and made a phone call. What he said wasn’t audible, but his tone was enough to communicate everything. He was begging.

It was still early when the coven reconvened. Amber and Krystal looked exhausted, loaded down with books and herbs. Sehun hadn’t moved from where he was lying. Junmyeon had gotten rid of the noose, but the bruises on Sehun’s neck and his position beneath the light fixture was enough. Tao left the room to weep in private with Kyungsoo.

The doorbell rang; everyone in the room looked around in surprise. Junmyeon went to look through the peephole. Who he found on the other side shocked him.

“Taemin? What are you doing here?” Junmyeon would have expected the Devil himself to show up before Taemin.

“Jongin called me.” Taemin looked exhausted and like he’d been crying too. “I’m here to help.”

“I’m not sure Sehun wants to see you.”

“Whether he wants to see me or not isn’t my problem.” Taemin shouldered his way past Junmyeon into the house. The older man let out an indignant squawk as he followed him into the living room.

“You came.” Jongin breathed, reaching out for Taemin, who hugged him briefly.

“You called. I came.” Taemin knelt at Amber’s feet, his head bowed. “I remember you. Thank you for your help.”

“Please don’t do that.” Amber sounded squeamish as she helped Taemin up. Sehun hadn’t moved. “Why are you here?”

“Jongin had an idea.” Taemin explained it in whispered tones that Sehun didn’t hear, or didn’t care to hear. Amber pulled away, looking thoughtful.

“It could work. But we need a third.” Amber turned to Krystal. “We need to call Qian.”

“She gave up the craft, remember?” Krystal said.

“We need a third, and fast. Call Qian.” Amber dove back into her books, while Krystal went outside to make a call.

In the meantime, Taemin lay down on the carpet next to Sehun, eyes closed against the glares and stares of Sehun’s family. He knew he wasn’t welcome. But he had come to help. They would thank him later.

That wasn’t why he’d come, of course. He’d come because Jongin had cried for him, and because of Sehun. He had a debt to the clairvoyant that might just be paid, if they could pull this off.

Krystal came back inside, looking amazed. “Qian said she’ll come. She’s on her way.”

“Good. Can you run home and grab this?” Amber handed her a list that she scanned quickly.

“We should have all this at the store, it’s closer.” Krystal grabbed the keys and headed out.

“What are you planning on doing to me this time, Amber?” Sehun asked in a croaky whisper.

“That’s for me to know right now, Sehun.” Amber turned back to her books, praying that she could pull this off.

Krystal returned from the store just as the new witch was walking up the path. They came inside together, Krystal leading the way with the bag of things she’d picked up.

“Victoria?” An incredulous voice said from the corner. Tao got up, blinking as if his eyes deceived him.

“Tao.” Victoria felt her heart sink into her stomach. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are _you_ doing here?”

“I take it you two know each other.” Amber could see this morning going to hell in a handbasket very quickly.

“This is my girlfriend.” Tao looked like he was about to pass out. “My girlfriend, who apparently has a different name and is a _witch_.”

“I gave up the craft before I met you, Zitao.” Victoria’s tone was sharp. “Qian and Victoria are both my names. Now will someone please tell me why I’m here?”

Amber sighed, stepped between Tao and Victoria, and got everyone’s attention. “This demon thrives on resurrected souls. Taemin happens to have a resurrected soul along with his own. We call Shadow Ass in, he goes for Taemin, and we blast his ass to shreds. Make sense?”

“I’m a little rusty for that, Amber.” Victoria sighed, looking at the boys on the carpet. The one that was barely moving she guessed was Sehun. Part of her wanted to back out, to save herself from potentially pissing off a high level demon, but it had never been her style to back down from a fight. And certainly not a fight that involved her boyfriend. “How do we do it?”

\--

It was noon before everything was ready. They’d moved to the woods behind Kibum’s mansion, figuring if there was any blasting to be done it was better on an open field than inside a house. Kibum had fretted a little about his dogs, but Jonghyun had dropped them off with Minho and come back.

Sehun was a little more alert, a little less crippled by his own despair. At least he was sitting up now, listening to Jongin murmuring quietly to him. Taemin was sitting off by himself, hoping for the best.

“We’re ready, boys.” Amber said, shuffling the large celestite crystal in her hands. Jongin squeezed Sehun’s hands, gave him a kiss, and left him sitting in the middle of the circle. Taemin took his place, surprisingly calm for someone risking his life.

There were murmured prayers and tears around the circle. No one wanted to watch these two boys die in front of them. But this was their best chance to save Sehun, and it was a chance they had to take.

“Sehun.” Taemin’s voice came from next to Sehun’s ear. “We have to do this.”

“Why? I should let him take me. Then everyone will be safe.” Sehun mumbled.

“Bullshit.” Taemin sounded like his ghost self more than ever. “Come on Miss Cleo, don’t give up on me.”

“Leave me be.”

“Nope.” He wasn’t expecting to get slapped across the face. It seemed to shock him out of some of the numbness. “Don’t be a little bitch. Fight to live.”

“Fuck off, Casper.”

“You realize if you die I’m going to take Jongin back, right?” That seemed to hit the right nerve and Taemin reveled in the flash of anger in Sehun’s eyes. “I’ll take your place. They liked me well enough when they first met me. I’m sure the baby would like me too.” Sehun snarled and lashed out, narrowly missing Taemin, who danced back from the blow. “You never knew Jongin as well as I did anyway. I watched him grow up. I saw him learn everything he likes. I’d be a better fit.”

They both went down in a mass of limbs and snarling. Sehun’s rage was his fighting chance. Taemin let himself be hit, then rolled them over and pinned Sehun’s smaller limbs under his own.

“Come and get us, fuck ass!” Taemin yelled out. Junmyeon saw it coming first and dragged Kyungsoo out of its path. The shadows hit Taemin dead on and knocked him off of Sehun. He writhed in pain as the shadows tugged at him, as if it was yanking his soul out through his pores.

“Now!” Amber held up her crystal; the two other witches mirrored her movement as they began to chant. The shadows were nearly done with Taemin by the time it noticed that the witches had created a cage of light from their crystals. The demon was caught in the crossbeams and with a horrible shriek like iron grating across iron, it burst into flames. The ensuing blast knocked everyone back several feet and shook the mansion.

Sehun was the first one moving, crawling over to Taemin, who had gone limp. He felt for a pulse and nearly cried when he found one, thrumming and strong.

“Am I me?” Taemin asked, cracking open one eye.

“That depends. Do you remember Jongin growing up?” Sehun asked.

“Nope. That’s gone.” He grinned at Sehun, who snatched him into a hug. As everyone got to their feet, they watched the two boys hugging and crying in a patch of sunlight where it had broken through the clouds. It seemed like heaven itself was smiling down on them.

Jongin fell to his knees and wept and gave his thanks that he hadn’t lost Sehun. Sehun found him in the crowd and kissed him senseless.

“You’re safe, you’re safe.” Jongin murmured, petting Sehun’s hair. “Oh my angel, my brave Sehunnie, you’re safe.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you.” Sehun rested his forehead against Jongin’s, feeling the chill and the fear bleed out of his body. They had survived. They had won.

\--

The bell over the door chimed and Sehun looked up from the magazine he’d been reading. “Moonie! Did you come to visit uncle Sehun?” He came out from behind the counter to lift Moonsik into his arms. “Ooh, you’re getting so big. Is all that walking making you a big, strong boy?”

“You’re just as bad as Luhan.” Minseok laughed, watching Sehun play with his son.

“I love this baby, what can I say?” Sehun kissed Moonsik’s head gently. “What brings you in, Minseok?”

“I need some things for the shop. Sage, blessed salt, that kind of thing.”

“I’m so proud. I feel like my baby is taking its first steps.” Minseok rolled his eyes, but it was true. Sehun had been training Minseok to spot haunted things on his own and clear out the basic spirits.

“I’m going to get the stuff I need. Don’t drop Moonie.”

Sehun happily played with the baby until Krystal came out of the back room and then it was game over. Moonsik adored her and her ability to make flowers and butterflies out of nothing. Sehun bowed to her prowess.

All too soon, Minseok was paying for his things and taking Moonsik back to work with him. The shop made good money, but sometimes the day could drag on forever. Krystal went back to whatever she was charming in the back room, leaving Sehun to his magazine.

The light that reflected off his ring distracted him, as always. He still wasn’t used to seeing it there on his left hand. Jongin had proposed about a month after Sehun’s bout with the demon, with a beautiful art deco style ring. Sehun had been worried at first that he was getting an antique that was haunted, but it was brand new. Three months of wearing it and it still surprised him it was there.

But life had been surprising him a lot lately. He’d moved back into the cottage, he and Jongin were planning a small wedding, the shop was doing well. Moonsik was growing up beautifully under the watchful eyes of his dads and his uncles and aunts. Sehun giggled when he thought about the day Moonsik had been introduced to Luna. She was the peek-a-boo champion with him.

Everyone knew that one day Jongdae would have to let her go, but for the time being, they were happy. And when she was ready to go, Sehun and Amber would be there to help her move on. Sehun didn’t foresee it happening for quite a while.

He was also counting the days before Tao proposed to Victoria. They’d gone through a bit of a rough patch after Tao found out she was a witch, but they’d worked it out and they were more in love than ever. Tao was sure to pop the question one of these days; it was just the kind of guy he was. He’d gone with Yixing and Junmyeon when they went to pick out their rings, just to look around apparently.

Junmyeon and Yixing had finally gotten around to finding rings: Yixing wore a carnelian ring and a black tungsten; Junmyeon wore a jade ring and the matching tungsten ring. It was as close to married as the three of them would ever get, and as close as they needed to be.

Sehun’s family had grown once again to include Jonghyun and Kibum, now regular guests at family dinners, and Taemin. After giving up his resurrected soul to save Sehun, it had been difficult to be angry at him, or to avoid being drawn to him. He was still a little lost about his place in the world, and with Sehun’s blessing, Junmyeon had adopted him into the family. Junmyeon always needed someone to worry about, and Taemin was the perfect candidate.

Sehun finally felt his age again. He didn’t feel old and weary in his bones anymore. His family had been unbothered by ghosts, no demons were coming to knock down their doors. It was quiet, and it was comfortable, and it was home. Sehun felt like he had earned this peace with his sweat and blood and tears, but it was all worth it. If he could keep his family safe, anything was worth it. And it had paid off.

**Author's Note:**

> I promise, this is the last one of this series that I'm writing. I think I've finally gotten it out of my system, and I left them in a good place. Many thanks to my beloved Dani, to Kit and Elkin, and to all of you for reading this.


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